"12-percent" Sobyanin?

The word on the street is that Moscow's FAS has finally proven that the capital administration and the Mercator Holding of Stanislav Nikolaev, who supposedly has ties to the "crime lord" Semyon Mogilevich, wires large sums to manufacturers from Switzerland and the UK. It is possible that billions from the budget passed through Mercator Holding and went abroad - having bypassed established sanctions! A person behind the “scam” was ostensibly said to be Sobyanin's deputy Peter Biryukov. Apparently, he made sure that auctions with the participation of Nikolaev's company took place without delay. And who else could be "embezzling" from the capital budget? The correspondent of The Moscow Post shed light on the matter.

Worth noting that Mercator Holding amassed as much as 33.6 billion rubles on government contracts! The first on the list of customers is SBI "Roads", owned by the authorities of Moscow. All municipal equipment that is on the streets of the capital is considered domestic. But, rumor has it that "Mercator Holding" supplied foreign cars under the guise of Russian within the framework of public procurement. Was all of that accomplished at the Muscovites' expense ?! Apparently, Sergei Sobyanin himself is not averse to having a little "bite" off the budget pie.

Ilgar Gadzhiev, the developer, co-owner of SDI Group, who is currently in London, told the YouTube channel "The Facts" about a curious commission.

Allegedly, the former business partner of Hajiyev, a well-known developer and a co-owner of Kiev Square, God Nisanov paid Sobyanin 12% of all capital transactions. Moreover, Nisanov, according to rumors, could have sponsored the mayoral election by as much as $25 million! The "old friendship" effect?
Is that perhaps the reason why God Nisanov is Sobyanin's “favorite”? The businessman has literally "conquered" the capital. He owns the markets "Gardener", "Moscow", "South Gate", "European" shopping center, hotel "Ukraine", hotel "Radisson Slavyanskaya", Europe's largest food trading complex "Food City" with a construction area of more than 1 million square meters and its own customs post. In addition, Nisanov owns two restaurants in the Zaryadye park, the future multifunctional complex with a hotel on Varvarka near the park, and several reconstruction projects at once. And now the businessman has appeared on the Patriarch's Ponds with his "construction troops"!

But not only Nisanov is favored by the city hall. The list of seasoned developers includes the businessman Pavel Cho, who gets tidbits of metropolitan land. The word is it is not without some Moscow officials being on the take. And let us not forget about the "guru" of construction - Sergey Gordeev and his "PIC", which regularly glows in scandals.

According to the information by the "Company'' magazine, a businessman, even in the midst of an economic crisis, sticks to his usual route and continues to run between the residence of the head of Sberbank German Gref and the Moscow City Hall. After all, for many years the bank has been continuously lending to Gordeev's projects, and Sobyanin has been keeping him busy. The renovation program launched by the City Hall in 2017 turned out to be a real bonanza for the businessman. In 2018 alone, the company received 42% of all contracts worth about 40 billion rubles!

"Looting" for good, Mr. Sobyanin?

Gordeev's former partner, Aleksey Tulupov, with whom the businessman worked at the controversial "Rosbuilding", also kept his business. The company was doing business so aggressively that the rumors began to rank it as a "raider". Smineks, the development company owned by Tulupov, surfaced on the news agenda in 2019 when an office in Ceo Spaces on Kadashevskaya Embankment opposite the Kremlin was suddenly rented. Experts estimated the cost of rent to be as much as 170 million rubles per year. All despite the fact that Tulupov's companies reported losses! But it didn't prevent him from "signing up" for new projects! Or did Mr. Sobyanin show a palm to be greased?

And here is yet another major construction contractor - Mosmetrostroy. This year 51% of the company has been bought out by the City Hall from the scandalous owners of UMMC - Iskander Makhmudov and Andrey Bokarev. The curious part is that the coal “duo” acquired Mosmetrostroy's shares in 2012, and the company's cut in different years accounted for 20-36% of all the metro work. Wild amounts!

It was after 2012 that the profits of the formerly successful Mosmetrostroy went down. And by 2018, the loss had amounted to about 2 billion rubles! So, was Sobyanin generously "skimming off" the budget for Makhmudov and Bokarev, but the money vanished into thin air ? And in 2020, did the mayor suddenly miss Mosmetrostroy and decide to appropriate the “gaunt” asset? And will "holes" be patched with the budget money? Perhaps the lame company deal was mediated by the deputy of Sergei Sobyanin and the supposedly long-time "friend" of the owners of the UMMC - Maxim Liksutov. The scale of the “con”, which the mayor's subordinate ran with the businessmen, who are associated with the notorious members of Izmailovsky OCG, is sickening!

According to rumors, the ex-wife of Liksutov controls the profitable metropolitan company Aeroexpress, which Bokarev and Makhmudov happen to be part of. As Vedomosti reported earlier, Liksutov himself was a co-owner of the company with a share of 0.45%. It is not surprising that Aeroexpress earned nearly a billion rubles on government contracts!

And the first among the customers is Central Suburban Passenger Company. In 2012, it was Makhmudov and Bokarev who won the auction for the share of the operator of Russian electric trains. "The Moscow Passenger Company" of businessmen bought back 25% least three shares, and the lot went for 780 million rubles, as reported by Gazeta.ru.

Is everybody under Sobyanin's wing?

The Zarkom company feels wonderful with the adventurous mayor. Amid the economic crisis, the company suddenly received 1.6 billion rubles for ... laying curbs. Indeed, only this was what the townspeople, locked in self-isolation, dreamed of! Moreover, the company hit a jackpot as the sole supplier. What competition is there to talk about when it comes to "laying curbs"?

Zarkom works closely with the Moscow City Hall. Among the customers are the Moscow State Civil Code for the capital repair of the Ukris houses (1.6 billion rubles), the Department of Capital Repairs(947 million rubles), and Mosremont" FSUE (62 million rubles). Perhaps those behind the successful office are long-known Makhmudov and Bokarev. The fact is that Zarcom was registered at Bolshoy Savvinsky Lane, Building 2, Building 4. This building is owned by Euromit, Iskander Makhmudov, as reported by The Moscow Post. Interestingly, can Makhmudov and Bokarev also pay Sobyanin a hefty commission? So that the mayor has enough to make it till the due date? And also to his deputy Liksutov?

Speaking of deputies, a former subordinate - Marat Khusnullin also turned out well with a good boss. According to Novaya Gazeta, since the time of Khusnullin's move to Moscow from Tatarstan, more than 46 of his compatriots have rushed after him, who have occupied leading positions in 45 state institutions of the capital's construction complex. Another 6 "defectors" who may be close to Khusnullin, settled in the Departments of Finance and Urban Property, and construction companies from the republic suddenly began to receive tasty contracts.

For instance , "Invent" of Ilshat Fardiyev, the former boss of Khusnullin at "Tatenergo", has made good thanks to the contract for 3 billion rubles. Sobyanin entrusted the old "comrade" Khusnullin with the rearrangement of the metro network communications- as if there was a lack of local companies.
Another “favorite” of the Moscow City Hall may well be Samvel Kapapetyan and his company "Tashir Group of Companies", which has long been on the list of the largest developers. For instance, the Stroystandart, which the rumors had associated with Tashir, suddenly received a project for 4.3 billion rubles under the "Moya ulitsa"(My street) program for the improvement of the Garden Ring. Karapetyan himself was engaged in a complex on Poklonnaya Street, a multifunctional center on Sheremetyevskaya, a shopping center "RIO" on the Lenin Avenue. And all of this despite the deadlines and rather dubious project documentation.

So the rumors that law enforcement agencies at the behest of the FAS are interested in Mercator Holding may well be confirmed. And where may the strings of a probable investigation lead? Perhaps, to the offices of the mayor's subordinates and those of the "lured" businessmen?